A Maria and Ben “Mousefest” TR: The Greatest Gift of All Update Finished 5/3 - Page 12 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Oooo, can't wait for the next update. You both looked gorgeous, dahling.
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
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We all loaded into Ben's car and headed over to the Grand Flo.
We planned on parking but then we were made aware of the fact that the parking lot at the Grand Flo was across the street. So we valet parked and it was wonderfully worth it.
On the way inside we saw that they were serving roasted chestnuts and hot apple cider…I made a note to get some on the way out.
We walked through the doors into the gorgeous lobby of the Grand Flo. We decided to take a picture in front of the main tree…a cast member used Molly’s camera to take a million pictures but all of them came out blurry unfortunately….
After that we headed over to the gingerbread house to meet the rest of the gang. It was nice to see everyone and meet some new passporters. Molly received an early Christmas present from Don …the cruise ship vinyls (love it) she had commissioned him to purchase.
We were escorted into the Garden View Lounge. I was a little sad that we were all seated so far apart…I wish it would have been two tables so we could have chatted with more passporters…but that’s really my only complaint…well that not true but more on that later.
Joey, Molly, Ben and I were seated together…
and our sever was absolutely insane.
Even though I know Lori did everything they told her to do to make the tea go smoothly our server seemed utterly confused ...first about if we were part of the group and then second which was ours of the orders that were placed a week or so ago.
We explained everything to her and then Molly and I ordered drinks…well actually we asked the server...
“Can we order some drinks?”
and she just kind of stared weirdly at us…we then just proceeded to order…Molly had a mimosa and I had a champagne cocktail.
The drinks came out and were delicious…this time when our server returned she was really jolly and happy…it was really strange…through out tea she went back and forth in a very maniac way from being really cold and sort of rude to filled with cheer.
I know Molly made some reference to a character from a movie about our server but I can’t remember maybe she will remember and share.
As for the tea itself…yummy!
Ben and I ordered the
Osmanthus Oolong - Top grade oolong tea from Formosa delicately scented with rare Osmanthus flowers for a broad and unique flavor. Highly coveted and prized for its champagne aroma and deep rich flavor.
We loved it….it smelled so good.
All of the sandwiches and other goodies were just amazing.
I remember Molly and I talking about how the onion tarts were sooo good and that we just wanted a bowl of the onion filling to munch on.
Molly and I both receive sparkling wine with our setting and the boys both had port.
I was stuffed after bathing in the Devonshire cream…but I made room for fresh strawberries and heavy cream…heavenly.
Most of the passporters were finished before us and came by to say farewell I know many of them were heading to MVMCP that night.
We finished up pretty soon and then after a quick bathroom break we headed over to pick up the car from valet. But not before some free apple cider …now as for the chestnuts I have never had them but they seem so “Christmassy” so we picked up a cup.
Molly was the only one who had tried them and didn’t want any but seemed to really want to see our reaction to them…all I can say is yuck!
Soon To Come…A cold night at the MK.
Is this the night we ran into you guys coming back, when we were waiting for a bus at the Contemporary and I was so rude to completely ignore Joey and Molly (sorry about that again you guys!)
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Yvonne:
My Gorgeous Daughter the Graduate----------------->
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Is this the night we ran into you guys coming back, when we were waiting for a bus at the Contemporary and I was so rude to completely ignore Joey and Molly (sorry about that again you guys!)
Yes it was the same night...I am sorry I was so exhausted I kind of just had to run by.
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The transformation in our server from being kind of hateful and clueless, to magically smiling and happy made us decide that she was Annette Bening in American Beauty.
I couldn't find any pictures of AB slapping herself in the face while she said, "Stupid, stupid!" but I think you get the picture of the transformation. We assumed that's what she was doing in the back before she came out with our tea.
So tea was definitely pretty awesome - minus the "cluelessness" of the whole situation. It's something I want to do again, or just about every time we go!
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